Taxi Fares And Journeys Taken In/Around Hungary

Taxi Firms - Taxi Fares - Urban Areas - Sample Journeys

Below you will find information about taxi firms, their regulations, their fares and some sample journeys I have taken myself.

As many people use public transport, the bicycle and walking as methods of getting from A to B the taxi in Hungary is not really used that much by the general public. Even tourists and
potential expats only tend to use a taxi for travelling from a train station, to an unknown and/or far away place (i.e. to the immigration office) or from an event to their hotel.

Taxi Fares And FARE REGULATIONS

Taxis in Budapest charge a Basic Fee ('just got into the taxi' fee) of 700 HUF (£1.91) plus a Mileage Fee of 300 HUF (82p) per kilometer. If they have to wait for you, for whatever
reason(s), they will also charge a Waiting Fee of 75 HUF (20p) per minute. These fees have been standardised by Budapest city council, so every taxi firm charges the same fees, with the
mileage fee being classed as a Tariff 1 fee.

With standardised taxi fees in Budapest, this means a trip from the Parliament building (Kossuth Lajos Tér 1) to the Csarnok Vendéglő restaurant (Hold Utca 11), just over one kilometer,
should cost around 1,000 HUF (£2.73); because it is within Budapest and within District V (5) in this case. A journey from Budapest Airport to Budapest Central should cost between
7,500 HUF (£20.53) and 8,000 HUF (£21.90), depending on the traffic, route taken and final destination.

Taxi Fares And RURAL AREAS

If your taxi journey exits the border of Budapest, and therefore enters a rural area, the taxi driver can charge you a Tariff 2 (rural area) mileage fee for that rural area part of the
journey. And if your journey starts inside a rural area anyway, you should be charged a rural area (tariff 2) mileage fee; until you reach Budapest, where the mileage fee should change
to tariff 1. Tariff 2 is currently charged at 600 HUF (£1.64) per kilometer.

Just like in many capital cities, the locals find taxi fares too expensive to be used as a regular form of transport. Locals might see a three kilometer journey costing 1,600 HUF (£4.38)
as an unavoidable one-off trip from A to B (i.e. from their home to the hospital), but taking another trip B to C or B back to A would be seen as "too expensive" already.

Always Use A COMMERCIAL TAXI COMPANY

In Budapest in particular it is always best to use a commercial taxi company as they are tightly regulated, must give a receipt, must have a special YELLOW Background licence plate (as
opposed to a standard white background license plate) and are monitored by the tax office. The same applies to the rest of Hungary, whose taxis do not normally have a yellow number plate
on them. The rest of Hungary is also different from Budapest in that rip-off taxi fares rarely happen, if at all.

Avoid BEING SCAMMED

On the internet you may hear stories of rip-off taxi drivers (in Budapest) taking longer routes, doubling the fare because it is past 8 o'clock, giving you change that is not legal
Hungarian forint, saying you gave a 1,000 HUF note and not a 10,000 HUF note and taking your credit card payment (whereby your credit card worked) but then stating your credit card did
not work so you have to pay cash instead; among other scams.

These scams may be true (I have never experienced any), but from what I have read on the internet they are done by 'hailed down in the street' cabs and not by commercial 'yellow number
plate' cabs. So avoid hailing a cab.

Do Your HOMEWORK

Map out the places (i.e. cities, towns and/or villages) you will be visiting;to be aware of their routes, landmarks and streets in order to avoid longer rip-off journeys.

Once you are inside Hungary:

Get a Hungarian to call your taxi; if the taxi company does not speak your language.

Get a Hungarian hotel receptionist to call your taxi; if you have no Hungarian friends.

Get to know the forint amounts together with the famous Hungarian faces

Once you are inside a taxi:

Use your GPS enabled mobile phone together with Google Maps to follow the actual (live) route you are currently taking in a taxi. That way you can see if the taxi is heading out of town, towards a bad neighbourhood and/or purposely in the wrong direction; for whatever reason(s).

Get your bags out first. Some bad drivers who dispute what you have paid them (i.e. 1,000 Ft instead of 10,000 Ft, because they know you are not aware of what each note looks like) will drive off with your luguage; if you believe stories from travel forums, etc.

Pay with small forint notes such as 2,000 Ft and 1,000 Ft notes and do NOT get out your wallet and flash cash. Have around 5-8 thousand forints, in small notes, in your hand or pocket prior to paying.

Actual TAXI JOURNEYS

Below are actually timed recordings of taxi journeys I, and Hungarian friends, have taken in Hungary during the last few months. They document journeys that a local
Hungarian and/or tourist, as well as yourself, might take during their/your own stay in Hungary.

I always tip around 10%. I find it easier to just add 150 to the fare or round the fare up to the nearest thousand. Examples: Fare 1,350 HUF - I give 1,500 HUF. Fare 1,800 HUF - I give 2,000 HUF.